Elise in Wonderland
by BeantownGleek
Summary: Dianna wakes up from a nap only to find herself in the Gleeverse. Light and fluffy, hopefully funny. Updated rating to M.
1. Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

_Down the Rabbit Hole_

"Quinn?"

"Quinn?"

"Quinn?"

Dianna opened her eyes a notch and squinted up at the little brunette shaking her shoulder vigorously.

"Huh? Whassit?"

She groaned and raised her head, brushing her golden locks from her face with her arm.

"Hey baby", she said groggily. "What time is it?"

She was surprised to hear a girlish giggle. She looked up to see a round face with a big smile and expressive brown eyes looking at her.

"You called me baby!"

Dianna looked at her nonplussed. "What's with you?" she asked.

"How can you ask me that when you're the one behaving strangely, Quinn?" the girl asked with a solemn expression.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Dianna frowned

"Calling you what, Quinn?" asked the girl, looking confused.

"That. Quinn."

The girl looked a little worried now. "Quinn, are you feeling quite alright?"

"Lea…" Dianna began

"Quinn, it's me, Rachel."

"Ha, Ha. Very funny. What the hell are we doing on set and where's everyone else – and why are you in costume?"

Rachel looked down momentarily at her argyle sweater then back up at Quinn with concern. "Quinn, are you still dreaming?"

Dianna looked at her, exasperated. "Stop it, Lea, this isn't funny anymore."

Rachel shifted nervously. "Quinn, I think you need to see the school nurse. I think you're unwell."

The internal voice that had been bothering Dianna suddenly grew sharper and more focused.

"Where _are_ we?" she said looking around before realizing with a shock that they were on the choir room set.

Except it wasn't a set. And there were no cameras. Or a cast or a crew. This actually was a choir room. One that looked exactly like the one they had on Glee. And all of a sudden, the walls were closing in on her. Dianna felt her knees give as she crumpled. Her last memory was of Rachel gasping and trying to hold her up as she went down like a sack of potatoes.

* * *

><p>Dianna awoke on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room – that was still swimming a little bit. Her head was splitting and her body felt a little warm. She screwed her eyes tight shut, willing it to stop. She could hear voices whispering, seemingly floating somewhere above her. She opened her eyes again, silently praying that she would wake up and find that she had been dreaming.<p>

Nope.

Still dreaming.

In vivid color, featuring Rachel Berry in maroon argyle, to boot. Rachel Berry, talking to someone with a very concerned expression on her face. Wait, who's she talking to?

As if in response, the stranger – was that a nurse's uniform? – turned to face her.

"Je…Jessalyn?" she managed to stammer out, gaping at her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "How are you feeling dear?"

"Great" she lied. "What's going on? Are you back on the show?"

She watched the nurse exchange a glance with Rachel.

"Quinn" she said, "I'm afraid you're not well. You have a slight fever which seems to be making you delirious."

She paused "Do you know who I am?"

"Mrs. Schuester?" asked Dianna hesitatingly.

The nurse frowned. "I'm the school nurse, Quinn. Mrs. Liddell. Mrs. Schuester was fired last year for handing out pseudoephedrine like candy."

Quinn closed her eyes again. Great. Her mind was recycling faces now. Come to think of it, she couldn't really remember seeing anyone other than Jessalyn in the nurse's role, maybe that's all it could come up with it?

Mrs. Liddell?

Now why does _that_ name sound familiar?

"Can I go now?" she asked finally.

She felt a hand touching her lightly. Ms. Rachel Berry, presumably.

"Quinn, Mrs. Liddell and I agree that you need to go to the hospital for a CT scan. Since she can't leave her post and my daddy works there, we decided that it's best if I take you."

Wait. Berry's dad is a doctor? Huh. Why isn't she rich then?

"So your dad's a doctor?"

She could see Rachel frowning slightly and biting her lip. It clearly wasn't the right thing to say.

"You know that my daddy had to drop out of med. school because his parents disowned him when he came out."

"Why would I know that?"

Rachel was fairly glaring now "It was *your* dad that outed him, remember?"

Dianna almost groaned out aloud. Really, Ryan? Is there a writer's strike on that I don't know about? Who _writes_ this crap?

"I'm sorry" she mumbled. "I'm clearly having trouble remembering things. What does your dad do at the hospital?"

"He's currently a nursing assistant, but he's doing night classes to put himself through med. school. He's graduating this year" she said, with a hint of pride.

"I'm sorry … and… glad he's finally getting to do what he wants, I guess…" Dianna offered.

Rachel beamed at her. It really didn't take that much with this girl, did it. Regardless, she was quite adorable thought Dianna before frowning at herself.

* * *

><p>Dianna could see that Rachel was wresting with herself about something. She finally appeared to make up her mind. She cleared her throat "Quinn, can I ask you something?"<p>

"Yes, Rachel"

"In your dream", she continued, haltingly "did we… I mean, were we…"

"It's okay, Rachel, you can ask me anything" Dianna said reassuringly

"Were we friends?" Rachel blurted out, blushing.

"Yes" Dianna replied, and then added "and more."

She watched closely as the little brunette looked perplexed for an instant before emitting a small gasp and turning beet red.

Adorable.

If she had to spend any amount of time in this place, it had better be with this girl.


	2. Chapter 2: Advice from a Caterpillar

_Advice from a Caterpillar_

Dianna waited silently in the rather septic looking hospital room trying to piece together what was happening around her:

Fact #1: It appears that, somehow, absurd as it may seem, she has been transported into an episode of the show she works on.

Fact #2: Pinching yourself to wake up from a dream not only doesn't work, but also hurts like hell.

Fact #3: She has the hots for a 17 year old. To confuse matters further, she _is_ a 17 year old herself – her mind still feels like her own, but at the same time, she somehow knows that she's a high-school kid.

A 17-year old who she has been bullying for a couple of years now, if the half-assed back story that hack had fed her on set was to be trusted. A 17-year old who's (presumably angry) father is walking through that door now.

"Mr. Berry?" the words stuck in her throat and came out in a croak.

"Please call me Hiram, dear", the man said smiling gently at her.

Dianna's first reaction was one of relief – clearly Rachel had not been telling tales out of school.

"The doctor will be by soon. I did look at the scans and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, so I don't want you to be worried."

"Uh…" Dianna reacted, and then training her face to look embarrassed, she said "I just had a very lifelike dream and I think I was still half-asleep when Rachel found me."

"I figured as much" he said, still smiling. "Rachel tends to worry about people she cares about – and I can't really blame her because she gets it from me."

Dianna felt a bolt of pleasure shoot through her. Rachel worried about Quinn! I mean, the scripts had shown Rachel reaching out to Quinn, but the writers tended to be pretty schizophrenic about her motivations – they tended to cast it as being driven by her desire to help the Glee club win. Dianna felt vindicated; she had always liked to think it was because Rachel truly cared about Quinn.

Dianna forced herself back into the present. Hiram was looking at her with a slightly more serious look making her a little nervous again.

"Actually…" he said haltingly

"Yes…?" she said finally, when it looked like he wasn't going to continue

"… Can I ask you something?" he finished, finally

"Of course, Mr. Ber… Hiram"

He paused and frowned "Is Rachel happy at school now?"

"I mean" he continued, "she was very unhappy her first year. She got bullied an awful lot."

Dianna looked vaguely guilty but said nothing.

"At some point last year though, she either got happier or she just got better at hiding her unhappiness. And I'm not sure which it is" he said

"It would help to know that she has friends – but she doesn't bring any of her friends home – except Finn, of course. "

"Except for the drunken party in the basement when Rachels' parents were out". The words slipped out before she had a chance to think about what she was saying.

Hiram had a small scowl on his face. "Yes, well, we didn't get to meet any of them at the time, we just saw the aftermath."

Dianna looked up at him and said "She has friends in the Glee club. Kurt, Mercedes, Brittany, Puck"

"And you, of course"

She accepted the amendment. Why the hell was she feeling guilty for stuff her character had done?

"And I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure she doesn't get bullied again"

He beamed at her. Man, she was clearly his daughter. And she, Quinn Fabray, was _so_ in.

* * *

><p>Rachel was silent on the way back, but kept glancing at her from time to time.<p>

Dianna turned to her and smiled "What, Rachel?"

Rachel smiled back.

"You're nice when you're … unwell" she said

Dianna couldn't hold back a laugh. "Thank you, I think. You're very nice when you're not being a crazy diva too". Both of you, she thought silently, causing her to chuckle even more.

Rachel joined her in laughter, and then impulsively but shyly put her hand on Dianna's.

Dianna grinned. She didn't know if anybody was watching _this_ version of the show, but boy, was she going to give them something to talk about!


	3. Chapter 3: The Pool of Tears: Part I

_The Pool of Tears: Part I_

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU RETARD!"

The petrified boy ricocheted off her, _then_ tripped, flailed around before finally careening into the lockers. The entire corridor stayed frozen for what seemed like eternity, but was in fact, just a few seconds; the silence finally broken by the laughter of the handful of football jocks and Cheerios still hanging around school – though even that was a little more subdued than usual.

Dianna slowly lowered her outstretched arms. From the corner of her eye, she could see a door open a crack through which a small figure peeped out.

Oh dear lord. What had she just done?

Not this. Not _Quinn_. Not _now_.

It figures.

It was the perfect end to the perfect week from hell. A little square box, neatly wrapped and tied, "To Lucy, May all your dreams turn into nightmares, Love, Lucipher."

* * *

><p>And yet, it had started innocuously enough. She had felt on top of the world when a smiling Rachel Berry had dropped her home – well to Quinn's home – on the way back from the hospital. The Fabray mansion – there was no other way to describe it – was spectacular. Dianna sighed contentedly as she lay down in the oversized whirlpool bath tub and felt the hot water swirl around her. Whoever or whatever was responsible for her being here sure wasn't skimping on the extras. Season 1 pregnancy apart, Quinn's life didn't seem that bad.<p>

That was before she met Judy.

Dianna wasn't sure how Quinn's relationship with Judy was even supposed to be at the time. Apart from "Skank Quinn" – for which the emptiness she felt after losing Beth had always been pushed as the primary driver – Season 3 scripts had almost exclusively focused on the Shelby/ Puck triangle. "Crazy Quinn" as she thought of it. She could see friction at home for season 3 Quinn – but this was surely pre-season 3, right? And in any case, all she had to do was be herself, not Quinn – _everybody_ liked her.

* * *

><p>Dianna toyed with her now cold pasta with her fork. She had made a few feeble attempts at communication with Judy which had largely been ignored, and now they were just sitting in silence.<p>

The word "_Dementor_" flashed through her mind, and it seemed appropriate. Judy seemed to have the ability to suck the happiness out of a room. Dianna was warm and affectionate by nature and easy to get along with; she had never felt so cold and unloved – unlovable, even – in her life. She felt an irrational need to win Judy's affection, but it also felt unachievable and made her feel completely hopeless.

"_Disappointment_" was another word that came up.

She couldn't even explain why. Judy hadn't said anything to her, per se, it was just the way she looked at her, looked _through_ her, staring into oblivion, thinking God-alone-knows what.

No mansion was worth this.

* * *

><p>Dianna awoke with a start when her alarm went off.<p>

4:30?

"You have got to be kidding me!" she groaned

Her phone chirped and flashed. "See you in 30, Q; I'll pick up Brit on my way"

Cheerio's practice!

Dianna could feel the panic rise within her. She had never been a cheerleader in her life. Could she even do this stuff?

It had been rather exhilarating to discover that she not only could but she was good, hell, _great_ at it.

For some reason, she hadn't felt any of the fear she had during the few Cheerios' scenes that she had been a part of. The moment she stepped onto the field, it had just come to her naturally.

Being yelled at by Sue Sylvester, however, had not.

This was clearly not Jane Lynch – and nothing she said or did was funny.

Dianna struggled to hold back a whimper when Sue started ranting into a megaphone, about 3 feet away from her face. The woman was downright insane; Dianna had never been as frightened of anybody in her entire life, not even as a child.

* * *

><p>There was some actual whimpering in the locker rooms post practice. Dianna could see Santana consoling a distraught Brittany who had taken a bad tumble and was limping as a result of it. A few students looked on curiously, sympathetically even. Dianna felt a strong urge to snap at them. What they had to go through was hard, but they were clearly good at what they did. They sure as hell didn't need pitying glances from <em>outsiders<em>, from people who didn't know what it was like to be them.

Wait.

She hadn't just thought that, had she?

Dianna frowned and turned back to her locker. She paused for a minute – did she actually know the combination – but just like at practice, her body seemed to know what to do. Her fingers moved quickly and surely turning the dial till the lock spilled open. She swung the door to the locker and reached for her backpack, causing a letter that had been squished underneath to fall out. It said "For Quinn" in a neat, even, slightly child-like cursive; clearly the handiwork of a certain Rachel Berry. Dianna felt herself smile despite herself.

_Dear Quinn,_

_Strange as this may sound, I really enjoyed taking you to the hospital and back. For the first time in the last two years, it felt to me that we can be – that we __are__ truly friends._

_That got me reflecting on my behavior over the last few months with some concern. By continuing to try to win Finn over, I have been disrespectful of your relationship with him and have been a very poor friend. My only excuse is that I have never really believed that you cared for Finn; I've always felt that you were only with him because you thought it befitted your status to date the school quarter-back._

_I realize now that your reasons are beside the point._

_While it is true that I have not gotten over my feelings for Finn…_

Dianna scowled

…_and it's likely that I won't for some time; as a friend, it behooves me to do everything in my power to not interfere in your relationship, whatever it may be. _

_To this end, I have resolved to avoid Finn as much as I possibly can until I am over my feelings for him. I wish the two of you happiness._

"Hey Quinn!"

Dianna did not look up from her letter, but her scowl deepened.

"You okay? You look like you did the time when I accidentally dropped your earring into the paint can…"

Okay, that was new, but Dianna wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"It's just Cory" she thought – but she knew it wasn't really. In the "real" world, she was very fond of Cory. The two of them had a blast on set – in fact, they were constantly getting into trouble – Ryan had yelled at them on more than one occasion – because they kept pranking each other and couldn't stop giggling when they had to do scenes together.

And yet, in this world, what she really wanted to do was to punch him in the face – and she'd only just met him.

She exhaled deeply, trying to relax.

"Hey Finn" she said, accepting his embrace.

"See you at lunch?"

"Sure" she replied unenthusiastically.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Well, now she knew what episode they were in. It had become apparent when that lumbering ox – Dianna was still glowering – had clocked Rachel in the face ten seconds into the routine. Finn had tried to take Rachel to the doctor, but Dianna had just given him a murderous look and gone with the bleeding girl instead. It wasn't like she had any interest in preserving the story-line…<p>

* * *

><p>The scene at the doctor's office had gone surprisingly to script, even though there was no one to play Finn's part. Dianna herself had stayed silent through most of it, partly because she was afraid that the annoyance she felt at the doctor would show if she opened her mouth. When he had left the room, she came over to Rachel, who was still seated on the examination table looking very downcast, cupped her face in the palms of her hands and gazed into her widening eyes.<p>

"Rachel? Look at me. You're beautiful, okay? You really don't need a nose job."

Rachel's eyes welled up immediately, but the look of wonder on her face quickly turned to resentment.

"That's a change from RuPaul" she said angrily.

Stung, Dianna dropped her hands.

"Yes" she said slowly. "It is. I'm sorry for all the nasty things I've said to you. I don't have an excuse for why I did it, but I hope you can forgive me."

Rachel just shook her head dejectedly. "Thanks for bringing me here Quinn. I think I'm going to go home now." And she fairly ran from the room.

Dianna bit her lip wondering if she should go after the girl. Sighing, she sat down in the armchair in the waiting room to reflect on her day. It had been strange, though maybe not by Glee standards. Maybe the lack of sleep was affecting her. How else to explain how bad-tempered she was feeling? She was beginning to get seriously concerned about the way she was reacting to things and people, especially Finn.

She really, really wanted to punch him now. And he wasn't the only one; she had wanted to punch most people around her the entire day. Even the smallest things were getting to her; she had a constant, irrational urge to scream.

Most people, except Rachel, who she wanted to grab and hug and kiss senseless.

She kicked at the coffee table in frustration, causing it to jump and dump random issues of Seventeen on the floor.

* * *

><p>Rachel was clearly taking her promise to stay away from Finn seriously. And since Finn was pretty much stuck to her, it appeared that the staying-away extended to her as well, because she had hardly seen anything of Rachel since that day. That is, apart from when she had approached Dianna about singing "<em>I feel pretty unpretty_". That was Dianna's favorite song from the show, but she really didn't feel like singing it anymore. Still, she had agreed since this way, she was at least assured of being able to see Rachel.

They had practiced it in the choir room after school over the next couple of days, with very little conversation – despite Dianna's best efforts – apart from the actual singing. Rachel routinely refused to make eye contact and left as soon as they were done.

They finally sang it on Friday in the choir room. It was surreal; from the moment they opened their mouths, they sounded perfect. Perfect pitch, perfect tempo, perfectly meshed voices.

It was, quite frankly, a magnificent performance; one which caused the entire team to spontaneously stand up and applaud. Dianna turned to look at Rachel who stood still for a minute, burst into tears, then ran from the choir room. It took a stunned Dianna a few seconds to gather her wits and follow her, much to the astonishment of her classmates.

She sprinted in the direction she'd seen Rachel take off and was rounding a corner when the freshman ran into her.

* * *

><p>Dianna picked up the glasses that had landed near her feet, relieved to find them still intact. She walked over to the dazed freshman, handed him the glasses and gently helped him to his feet.<p>

"Are you okay?" she asked him with some concern and then, when he nodded, added softly "I'm sorry I yelled at you, but it's not a good idea to run in these halls, kid."

She ignored the openly gaping faces around her as she turned to make eye contact with the little brunette looking at her with an inscrutable expression from behind the half-open restroom door. Their eyes met briefly, the girl then turned and retreated into the restroom. Dianna closed her eyes and cupped them with her palms, exhaled slowly and then followed her in.


	4. Chapter 4: The Pool of Tears: Part II

_The Pool of Tears: Part II_

"Rachel?"

Dianna paused to acclimatize her eyes to the inexplicably low light in the restroom. She moved towards the girl standing forlornly in a corner.

"Rachel?"

Dianna placed both hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. Her face was swollen and her eyes were red.

Dianna felt her heart go out to the girl.

"Sweetheart…"

Rachel stiffened.

"Rachel" she started again.

"What are you doing, Quinn?"

Dianna sighed.

"Well, right now, I'm just trying to get you to stop crying and come out of this dark cave.

"I turned the lights off" Rachel said matter-of-factly.

"What is it? What are you so upset about?"

Rachel looked up at Dianna, her lips quivering.

"You don't understand…" she said.

Dianna touched the sink with her fingers to check if it was wet, then hopped onto it.

"So tell me" she said impassively.

The words came out in a rush like a flood "You don't understand what it's like to be me. I know what people think of me, okay? I've read all the comments that you and your friends post on my MySpace videos. I know that I talk too much. I know that people find me annoying."

She paused for a breath. Dianna opened her mouth to interrupt her, but thought better of it and closed it again.

"I'm not pretty like you. I don't have your sense of style. I don't have guys falling over themselves to be with me. Finn was the first boy who really took an interest in me. And even he…" she trailed off.

"Do you think Finn is really interested in you?" the words came out before she could stop them.

Rachel looked like Dianna had slapped her and her eyes started to fill up again.

Dianna started apologizing almost immediately.

"Sorry, that came out wrong; that's not what I meant. I'm simply saying that Finn – although he was able to see the good in you – takes you for granted and, like everyone else, is unable or unwilling to see past your surface flaws – because that's all they really are, Rachel.

She sighed. She didn't want to be talking about Finn; there was just no way to win going down that path. She started over.

"Do you know what _I_ see when I look at you?"

"What?" Rachel asked hesitantly

"I see someone … special – a gifted … artist who hasn't let her talent dull her drive."

Rachel interrupted "I know that, Quinn. It hasn't helped…"

Dianna put up a hand, "Let me finish."

Rachel quieted down, her eyes still firmly affixed on Dianna's face.

"I see an extremely attractive girl, not just beautiful, but more, someone who can light up a room with her presence, with her energy and enthusiasm."

Rachel blushed slightly, but didn't otherwise move. Her piercing brown eyes widened, but stayed focused on Dianna, following every motion of her face, in particular, her lips. Dianna had to fight off a sudden urge to kiss the girl. She looked away, focusing on a random piece of art on a stall door. She wondered idly if it was one of Quinn's.

She continued "But even more, I see a warm human being who is affectionate and caring – even towards people who have done nothing to deserve that affection. I see an ability to look past the surface and see the best in people and a capacity for forgiveness that _I_ will never have."

Here, she paused and looked down at her hands. They both stood in silence for a while.

"I don't understand" Rachel said finally.

"I hear the words you're saying to me now, but I can't reconcile them with all of your actions up to this point. Everything you've done in the past has been directed at tearing – or at least keeping me down. What's changed now?"

"So many things" Dianna wanted to say, but didn't. She could feel Quinn's life flash before her eyes: The pregnancy. Getting kicked off the Cheerios. Falling down the social pyramid. Being abandoned by her parents. Losing Finn. Having to live in the Puckermans' basement…

Dianna had spent many hours trying to put herself in the young girls shoes as the walls of her precariously balanced life came crashing down around her. Sometimes, the emotions were so strong; she had to remind herself that these things hadn't actually happened to her. It was hard for her to understand how the people around her, these _friends_ couldn't even see Quinn's pain.

"Do you know why I sang the song with you?" she asked, her voice taking on an unintentionally harsh undertone.

Rachel looked confused.

Dianna pressed on, more forcefully.

"Rachel, you're not the only one who feels unloved and unappreciated."

She turned to look straight at Rachel, making the girl squirm a little under the force of the gaze.

"I mean, you have two wonderful fathers who love you very much and think the world of you. They love you for who you are. You don't have to live your whole life thinking that you have to fit some ridiculous model of perfection because your parents will stop loving you if you don't."

An image of Judy flashed before Dianna's eyes. She looked down to hide the moisture suddenly welling up in her own eyes.

"You don't have to worry about being disowned by your parents and thrown out of your home because you made a mistake…"

Dianna felt a small hand clutching at hers.

"Quinn…"

Dianna shrugged her off and turned away.

"Quinn…"

There was a plea in Rachel's voice.

"You're not the only one who feels _unpretty_, Rachel."

Dianna could feel the anger, so dangerously close to the surface all the time, showing in her own voice.

A large tear drop splashed onto her lap, finally drawing her out of Quinn's past.

"I'm a horrible person." Rachel whispered. "Not just a bad friend, but a horrible person."

"I took Finn away from you at the hardest time in your life and made it even harder."

She sniffed audibly causing Dianna to forget about Quinn and look at her with concern.

"I was so shocked to find that you were living in the Puckermans' basement. I had come over to pick up some _Roda_… some pumpkin pastries that Mrs. Puckerman had baked for us for the Jewish New Year. I heard her shouting at Noah about something – it took me a few minutes to realize that she was talking about you and that you were in the basement. Like Cinderella."

Dianna supressed a natural temptation to correct her – as well as a sudden craving for Lea's mom's _rodanchas_ and _mansanada_ which she made for _Rosh Hashanah_ in the Sephardic tradition.

"At that moment, I wanted to run down and tell you to move in with my family instead and stay in our guest room, but I didn't have the courage, as usual."

Rachel was sobbing now. Dianna put her hands around her tentatively and tightened her grip when Rachel didn't pull back.

"I went back home and cried for hours – and then called Mercedes to beg her to take you in."

Dianna was surprised by this piece of information, but didn't comment, just saying "It's okay" over and over again and rubbing little circles on the girl's back instead.

"She wasn't willing at first, but changed her mind after you sang _It's a Man's Man's World_ – I think that's when she kind of understood what you were going through."

"I always saw it – but I thought that you were okay now that you had the baby and had moved back home and were back to being a Cheerio..."

"Yeah, well you should know, the feeling of being unloved and unwanted doesn't go away." Dianna said shortly. Not a smart thing to say; that just made Rachel cry harder. She shook her head at herself and lifted the girl's face with a hand and gazed deeply into her eyes. Rachel quieted down almost immediately and stared back at her.

If Finn hadn't picked that very time to burst in, she was pretty sure she would have kissed the girl.

"Finn!" they both shouted automatically, Dianna perhaps with a greater measure of annoyance. "You can't be in here!"

"Rachel? Quinn? Uh… I can't see you. Why is it so dark in here?"

Dianna cursed under her breath as Rachel slipped away and darted towards the door. She was past Finn and through the door in a flash, leaving Dianna to deal with her boyfriend.


	5. Chapter 5: The Caucus Race

_The Caucus Race_

Principal Figgins cleared his throat

"And this year's Prom King is…" and here he paused to look at the paper and frown disapprovingly before mumbling

"quinnfabray"

Wait.

_WHAT_?

Dianna froze. This wasn't right; this couldn't be happening. _Karofsky_ was supposed to be prom king, not _Quinn_.

She looked around. There was absolute silence from the crowd, which oddly gave her a small sense of satisfaction. They might screw with Quinn Fabray under the cover of anonymity, but no one was going to laugh in her face.

Figgins kept going.

"And now the 2011 McKinley Junior High Prom Queen with an overwhelming number of write-in votes is…" with a little more enthusiasm this time

"Ms. Rachel Berry!"

There was a small gasp followed by hooting and laughter all around. Quinn scowled fiercely at the crowd and started moving towards Rachel. Rachel stayed rooted to her spot for a minute and then fled.

Dianna was just about to race after her when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find herself face to face with a very serious looking Brittany.

"Who are you?" the girl asked solemnly and went on, disapprovingly, before Dianna could respond "You don't belong here. You can't have our Rachel, she isn't meant for you."

Dianna's heart almost stopped and her palms felt clammy.

"I…" she stammered

"What does she mean?" asked a shrill voice. Great. Not only had Finn failed to play his part, he was coming after her now.

"Are you playing a trick on Rachel? Were you planning to win her trust and then pour pig's blood on her head?" he continued suspiciously.

"If she was going to do that, she would have had you be prom king, not herself, you idiot!" Santana stepped in, her eyes on Dianna. She ignored the glowering Finn and raised her eyebrows at Dianna. "Fintards got a point though, Blondie. What are you playing at? And why does Brits think you don't belong here?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Dianna replied angrily. Then shaking them all off, she headed in the direction that Rachel had disappeared.

* * *

><p>Dianna stood hunched over the sink. <em>Nothing<em> had gone to plan and now Rachel had disappeared and probably wouldn't even talk to her even if she did find her.

And yet, she thought she had done everything right that week.

She had played along with the lead up to the prom and the elections. She had put up her posters and canvassed, although with far less enthusiasm than Quinn would have shown.

When Lauren Zizes had cornered her in the home room, she had let her go through with her speech. She hadn't pretended to cry though – she had just looked at Lauren coldly and told her that, even though she had been ashamed of Lucy "Caboosey" at one point in her life, she embraced her now, so she, Lauren Zizes could just go stick her posters up where no one could find them. And then marched out, tossing her head leaving Lauren staring at her back with her mouth open.

The return of Jesse had been harder to deal with. She had _almost_ run into him when she had sneaked into the auditorium to hear Rachel sing. She completely adored Jonathan, who in turn worshipped Lea and would do just about anything for her. This boy? Not so much, he was clearly bad news. He was pretty high up on the list of people that Dianna wanted to punch – and possibly kick in the nuts.

She had watched Finn bristle at her side and get into his verbal duels with Jesse. Just like she had done all week, she had stuck to her part. She had no desire to interfere – her primary goal had been to end up in that restroom with Rachel at the end of the prom.

Finn himself had grown increasingly unsteady through the week. It was clear that Dianna's altered relationship with Rachel was unsettling him, but Dianna had neither the time nor the inclination to worry about his feelings. And it wasn't just him, she could make out that there was something in the air, because she kept walking in on conversations that just _died_ when she appeared. Of course, no one dared to talk to her about it; not even Jacob Ben Israel had tried to ask her about Rachel. Dianna figured she had Quinn to thank for that; she seemed to excel at channeling Quinn's rage. The incident with the freshman had clearly left its mark – the fact that she had shown kindness to the kid seemed to have only enhanced her reputation as the munificent dictator of McKinley. All hail Quinn the Merciful.

The week had dragged by, but finally, _finally_ reached its end. Prom was here! For the first time that week, Dianna felt excited. She even felt capable of dealing with Finn who was an even worse dancer than Cory.

Prom, however, had not gone as it was supposed to. Rachel had been very subdued – and distracted – through the evening. Jesse had tried several times to snap her out of it, but had eventually given up and turned his attention to Brittany. Rachel had stuck around the stage eventually reverting to just backing up whoever was singing.

And when she sang Firecracker…

Dianna could swear that Rachel had looked at her through the entire song. And by the end of the song, Finn – who had followed Rachel's gaze – was staring at her just as hard. Dianna was growing increasingly desperate. If Finn and Jesse didn't get thrown out, she wasn't going to end up in the restroom with Rachel…

* * *

><p>At long last, she straightened, figuring she should make another attempt to find Rachel. She was beginning to regret the day she had mysteriously appeared … in the … choir room?<p>

Shoes in hand, Dianna sprinted flat out. She was in fairly good shape, but she still arrived out of breath and panting at the choir room. Which was dark. Dianna sighed; this was getting to be a pattern. She poked her head in and peered around trying to make out shapes.

And then she heard it. It was faint, but unmistakable – a stifled sob coming from a corner.


	6. Chapter 6: Stealing the Tarts

_Stealing the Tarts_

Dianna closed and locked the door of the choir room quietly before turning around and moving in the direction of the sound.

Her eyes were beginning to acclimatize and she could vaguely make out a Rachel shape in the corner. Dianna hoped the girl wasn't planning to run, because she didn't fancy playing catch in the dark choir room.

There was a soft click and Dianna was surprised to find that she could actually see. Rachel was apparently carrying an electric lamp with her!

"Props from the play" Rachel said matter-of-factly.

"Rachel…" she said softly.

Rachel didn't look up.

Dianna bit her lip and lowered herself gingerly next to the girl.

Rachel turned to her, her eyes still moist, and her lips quivering slightly.

"Did you do this?" asked the girl quietly

"I swear, Rachel, I had nothing to do with this! I thought it was going to be Karofsky and Kurt – that was what was supposed to happen!"

Rachel looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Supposed to happen? You talk as if _we're_ part of a play, Quinn."

Dianna sighed.

"Well, that was what happened in my dream" she said glumly.

Rachel's eyes widened and her lips curved slightly as she said in mock exasperation

"Are you still going on about your dream?'

"Well, it was a good dream" said Dianna sullenly.

Rachel couldn't hold back a smile.

They sat silently for a minute.

"So what else was different?" she asked suddenly

"What?" Dianna blinked, caught off-guard.

"What was different? Were you _you_ or were you someone else? Was I a famous Broadway star?"

Dianna grinned.

"I was someone else – someone called Dianna Agron, an actor on a TV show."

Rachel's eyes goggled.

"And yes, you were famous. On and off Broadway, in fact. You were offered –and actually turned down – the role of Eponine in Les Miserables and you were the star of the show I was on."

Rachel giggled.

"So is that how we met? On the TV show?"

"Yes. Though I had actually seen you before on Broadway – but I never told you that."

"Why not?" asked Rachel, her head tilting slightly to one side.

"Because I didn't want it to go to your head. You know how you get…"

"Quinn!" Rachel protested, pouting "I would never!"

"Besides" she said after a moment of thought, "that wasn't me, but … Lea…?"

And here she crooked her head at Dianna.

"…Michele Sarfati" Dianna finished, smiling. Couldn't get much past this girl.

"Is that a Jewish name?" asked Rachel

Dianna nodded "Sephardic. I was Jewish too"

Rachel beamed at her for a minute.

"Was I … still… did anybody like me?" Rachel asked more diffidently.

"You were a super-confident little pocket dynamo full of joy and enthusiasm; everybody around you loved you."

Rachel frowned at the height references, before donning a mournful expression.

"Here, I can't even get the people who are supposed to be my friends to like me"

Dianna put her arm around Rachel and pulled her towards herself

"Hey, this will get better, you know? High School will end one day, you will be older and more mature; you will be more comfortable in your own skin and more confident about your future. You'll understand that you don't need to try so hard to make people like you – not the people who matter, anyway."

Rachel looked at Dianna with a curious expression in her eyes – a combination of adoration and longing – that made Dianna stop in her tracks.

"Quinn…" said Rachel softly, looking down at her hands that were inter-locked in her lap.

"Uh… what…?" said Dianna, finally remembering how to breathe.

"Were you among the people around me who loved me?" said Rachel, even more softly, so faint that Dianna had to dip her head towards Rachel to catch it.

Dianna nodded dumbly, her throat dry.

"How much?" asked Rachel, looking up at Dianna with doe-eyes.

Dianna completely lost the plot at this point, yammering meaninglessly till Rachel eventually interrupted her with a giggle. Dianna flushed and stayed silent as Rachel repeated the question, more teasingly this time.

Dianna looked down at her own hands.

"I'm not sure how to answer that Rachel" she said truthfully

"Show me" said Rachel, in an unmistakably husky voice as she leaned over and kissed the corner of Dianna's mouth.

Dianna's body finally sprang into action. She deepened the kiss, capturing Rachel's upper lip between her own and lightly touching it with her tongue. Her right arm shot out, scooping Rachel's legs up and turning them around so that she could pull the girl onto her lap. Rachel gasped into her mouth and Dianna used the opportunity to press further. Her tongue slipped in between Rachel's lips till it made very slight contact with Rachel's tongue causing Rachel to shudder. Dianna withdrew immediately and bit lightly on Rachel's lower lip. Rachel squeaked in protest and her own tongue darted out reflexively to lick on her bruised lip. Dianna intercepted it, again making fleeting contact and withdrawing, coaxing it to follow her. Rachel moaned and her tongue snaked out further, breaching Dianna's lips, searching for Dianna. Dianna clamped down and met it with her own tongue, more firmly this time.

Dianna had an arm wrapped around Rachel's shoulder; her other hand, which was resting on Rachel's knee, moved up along the inside of Rachel's thigh, forcefully pushing up the dress – and here, Quinn silently thanked the wardrobe team for not putting Rachel in one of Lea's preferred gowns which would have given her virtually no access until she had taken the whole damn thing off. Quinn ran her hand along the inside of her thigh in long, length-wise strokes, going from just above her knees to a point just short of Rachel's panties. Even at that distance, she could feel the heat radiating from Rachel's core. Rachel's head was rolled back, her eyes unfocussed and she was trembling – and just looking at her in that state was making Dianna a little crazy.

Dianna's hand left Rachel's shoulder and began to work deftly on the little zipper at the back of Rachel's dress before sliding down the front of the now loose bodice. Her fingers brushed against the top of Rachel's breasts, making her jump. She looked into her face. Rachel's eyes were blown and she was making small throaty noises. Dianna cupped a breast while running her thumb lightly across the top edge of the strapless bra, brushing a nipple in the process causing Rachel's body to spasm. She released the clasp with a snap, causing the bra to jerk forward and then fall off Rachel's breasts. She tugged at the bodice to give herself enough room to lower her mouth to Rachel's breasts. Her other hand continued to make small circles around the expanding wet spot on Rachel's panties. Rachel was now squirming and writhing desperately in an attempt to make better contact, but Dianna held her steady, causing her to moan in frustration.

"Quinn, please" Rachel said pleading, "I need…"

"Need what, baby?" Dianna's voice was gentle, but teasing.

Rachel was practically groaning with frustration.

"I need… you…inside…now" she gasped out, brokenly.

Dianna kissed her soundly and finally, in one motion, slipped her hand down into her panties, piercing Rachel's wetness with two long fingers. Rachel jerked up, her eyes wide open and then immediately began to thrust vigorously against her hand, practically jerking the entire lower half of her body forward, crying out Quinn's name loudly – Dianna half-expected to hear people breaking down the choir room door before she remembered that it was sound-proof. After a few moments of doing this, Rachel went rigid; once, twice, thrice before she finally collapsed into a heap with one final exhalation.

Rachel slowly turned to look up at Dianna with wonder and a little bit of panic in her eyes. Dianna just smiled and kissed both her eyes, gently sucking her long lashes into her mouth. Rachel heaved a sigh and buried her head in Dianna's chest.

Dianna closed her own eyes. She was contented, but also exhausted. It had been a long and stressful week – but it had finally turned out right. She could feel herself drifting off…

* * *

><p>"Umm… What... Urghhh!"<p>

Dianna jerked up, her eyes opening in the process.

Her entire body was twitching and she could feel the heat between her legs.

A dark head popped up and gave her a shy smile. Dianna looked at her surprised.

"Rachel, what are you…"

She trailed off. From the moisture glistening on the girls lips, it was clear what she had been up to.

"I just wanted to return the favor" she said, so softly that Dianna had to strain to catch the words.

"Um… where did you learn to…?"

"I've been reading up on Sapphic technique" Rachel continued, more resolutely.

"Since when?"

Rachel turned a deep shade of pink.

"Since… since the day we almost kissed in the restroom."

Dianna just stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"What about Finn?"

Rachel looked a little ashamed.

"It's true that I thought I had feelings for Finn…" she said before trailing off.

"… but then I got to see the real you." she continued.

"I always knew there was a special connection between us. I think, on that day, I finally understood what it was. It wasn't you I was jealous of, it was Finn – because it was you I wanted, not him." she concluded.

They continued to stare at each other for a minute, and then Rachel smiled – a smile that was rapidly turning impish as she got over her embarrassment.

"So, can I go back to thanking you?" she asked, now grinning broadly.

Dianna looked at her warily. Lea had an extremely talented and tireless tongue, and not just for talking and singing. And she was very, very good at making you beg…

* * *

><p>Dianna's eyes jerked open. She was sweating and her entire body was shaking. She figured she had been brought to the brink about six hundred times now and it didn't look like there was going to be a reprieve any time soon. She glanced down at Rachel who was working her way up her thighs.<p>

"Rachael" she said pleadingly.

There was no acknowledgement, just a continuation of the wet slurping noises as Rachel found a new interesting place to focus her attention on – this time, it was the junction of her thighs and her extremely wet mound – it literally felt like there was a river flowing between her legs. Dianna thrust her hips up desperately; at this point even the slightest contact would ensure her release. Rachel looked up at her with a frown – and then, mercifully dived in with her tongue. Dianna closed her eyes as she came, practically screaming out her name…


	7. Chapter 7: Elise's Evidence

_Elise's Evidence_

"Who the **fuck** is Rachel?"

Dianna opened her eyes and stared glassily at the little brunette raising herself on her fists between her thighs, her face still glistening from her recent expedition.

"Lee… Lea?"

"No, _fucking_ Rachel, that _fucking_ _cow_. Who's clearly got your tits in such a twist that you need to call out her name when you're getting the best damn wake-up sex you've ever had in your life" said the glaring diva.

"Panties in a twist" said Dianna automatically, "and that doesn't mean what you think it does. You could use Tits Forward instead", she babbled on and then stopped abruptly when her eyes landed on Lea's face and her narrowing eyes.

She then did the only thing she possibly could to check the onset of the diva's imminent temper tantrum – which was to double over and explode with laughter. The brunette paused, her eyes glinting dangerously and then shifted up to position herself on top of her girlfriend.

"Blondie, this better be good" Lea growled, but unable to prevent the corners of her mouth from turning up.

Dianna, tears streaming down her face, continued to snort with laughter, intermixed with incoherent sounds.

"You were… so annoying…and adorable...and hot, oh, **so** hot as Rachel!"

"You sick perv, you do realize that she's underage, right?" said Lea, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

Dianna's mirth finally abated. She cupped her hands around Lea's face and gently pulled her closer, drinking her in with her eyes. Lea's eyes widened and she felt her breath hitch.

"This", said Dianna. "These eyes. This is my wonderland". And she kissed her.


End file.
